Coming to Terms
by Geeqad
Summary: Kyouka had always known that she had feelings for Momo, but what happens when, following the rescue of their classmate, Momo starts finding herself drawn to a certain green haired and freckled classmate? How will Kyouka come to terms with this? Will things work out for the three of them? Poly
1. Chapter 1

**Hey ho! Been a while! Apologies for the lack of updates, work and university have been absolutely killing any time and motivation I've had to write for a while now. But hopefully things should change with this fic!**

**HUGE shout out to Eternal Love Song for helping me out with the groundwork for this fic! I seriously couldn't have done it without you, you're a lifesaver!**

**Without any further ado, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia in any way, shape or form.**

* * *

Exhaustion. That was the easiest way to describe how the entirety of class 1-A was feeling right now.

Having been put through hell by the Pussycats as they'd charged through the Beast's Forest, finally coming across a clearing which housed their lodgings for the foreseeable future was a welcome sight indeed. Wiping some dirt off her forehead, Jirou attempted to catch her breath as best she could, her earphone jacks bent at seemingly random angles due to how tense her body was.

Looking to her left, she saw Momo Yaoyorozu looking as graceful as ever, only a few droplets of sweat could be seen trickling down her brow. As she lifted her arm to wipe a small scuff of dirt off her cheek, she noticed that her best friend was staring at her, offering a small, comforting smile which made caused Jirou to pretend to wipe something off her cheek to cover her blush as her heart raced.

To say that Jirou had a crush on her perfect classmate was the understatement of the century. It had been love at first sight for the punk girl, and while she tried to play it cool in front of her other classmates, she couldn't help but notice how fast her heart would beat when she was near the creation hero in training. Despite her attempts, however, she was certain that the romance gurus, Mina and Tooru, were onto her.

"It'll only take 3 hours? Yeah right…" Sero struggled, rubbing his elbows.

Chuckling lightly, Mandalay replied "Sorry, that's how long _we_ would've taken."

"We actually thought that it'd take you longer." Pixie-bob chimed in, laughing in a very cat-like manner before she continued. "And you dealt with my Earth Beast pretty easily too. Not bad, especially you four!" She exclaimed, pointing to Iida, Bakugou, Todoroki and Midoriya.

Hearing this, proclamation, Jirou's gaze wandered over to the four in question. It hadn't surprised her that they were getting special attention for their talents from pro heroes, they'd frequently outperformed the others despite any conflicts that they may have had with each other. Out of the four of them, however, one particularly stood out to the usually aloof looking girl – Izuku Midorya, the usually shy, nerdy kid who, despite his lack of self-confidence, frequently found himself at the frontlines against any villain attacks, charging deftly ahead with seemingly little concern for himself, so long as he could protect others.

Jirou had admired that part of him, the selfless hero, risking everything to save everyone. Considering how he had been when he had first come to UA, he was an absolute inspiration for anyone who wanted to be a hero, herself included. Whilst she knew her heart belonged to Momo, she couldn't help but admire his tenacity and drive to be the best.

She also knew that Momo felt similarly about the green haired boy, using his drive as a motivator for herself, despite the fact that neither of them were particularly well acquitted with the guy in question.

She was drawn out of her thoughts as Mandalay brought attention to a small boy, referring to him as her nephew. Having invited him closer, Jirou watched as the boy with green hair and freckles bent down to shake his hand, only for Kota to continue moving forward, swinging his fist straight into the young man's crotch.

"Midoriya!" Iida cried out as the injured boy slumped to the ground in pain, causing Bakugou to smirk at the boy's pain. Turning his attention to the one who committed the crime, Iida continued, "Hey, where do you think you're going? Why'd you punch Midoriya in the junk?!"

Glaring back at the heroes in training, the temperate boy spoke as coldly as possible. "I can't abide jerks who wanna be heroes."

As the commotion continued, Jirou couldn't help but cover her mouth to hide her amusement at the situation.

"Kyoka!" Momo reprimanded her quietly, trying not to draw attention to the punk girl to save her some embarrassment from her classmates. "Why are you laughing? Our friend is in pain!"

"Sorry, Yaomomo…" Jirou managed to say between giggles. "But you gotta admit, the comedic timing…" She trailed off as she continued to supress her laughter. Of course, she'd felt bad for the boy who was only just managing to stand up now, attempting to assure his fast friend that he was fine, despite his posture stating otherwise.

Momo couldn't help but admit to herself that it was objectively hilarious, but she could never say that out loud. Concern for her classmates came first, as was befitting for the vice president of 1-A.

"That's enough of this sideshow." Aizawa called out, snapping them all out of their stupor. "Fetch your luggage from the bus and drop it off in your room. It's time for dinner."

* * *

"Aaaaaahhhh…" The normally ponytail-adorning girl sighed as she settled into the hot spring, letting the heat soak into her bones. "I've never felt this good…"

Attempting to hide her embarrassment, Jirou continued the conversation, "C-can you believe there's hot springs here? This is the b-best!" She managed, feeling her blush glowing across the entirety of her face. She internally cursed and hoped that it wasn't as visually noticeable as it felt.

The last thing she'd anticipated from this training camp was to see the object of her affections completely and comfortably naked in front of her. She didn't know where to look, and she kept finding herself with her eyes trailing back towards her figure. She was praying for some kind of distraction, _anything_ to distract her from the possible end of her friendship with the last person she wanted to lose.

"Hey, Jirou…" Mina's voice sang towards the rocker girl, filling her with a sense of dread. "Your face is looking a little red!"

'_When I wanted a distraction, this wasn't what I wanted.'_ Jirou thought to herself. _'Please, someone, get me out of this situation.'_

"Stop that at once, Mineta!" Iida's voice boomed from the guy's side of the hot springs. "What you're considering would bring shame to both yourself and our female classmates!"

In response to hearing this, the girls all turned towards the source of the noise, looks of disgust upon their faces. Certain they knew what was coming next, they could only pray that he could be stopped.

"We're here to overcome those walls!" Mineta shrilled over the wall, the sound of his quirk being used to scale the wall, the ominous sound of his cackling getting ever closer. "Plus ultra!"

Quickly getting up, Jirou rushed over to the wall as fast as she could, her earphone jacks at the ready to stretch up and poke him straight in the eyes should he successfully manage to reach the top.

Fortunately for her, she never got the chance to do so, as Kota had clearly been within the wall separating the males from the females. He had arisen from his hiding place, muttering something to Mineta with that usual glare of his before pushing the perverted boy downward.

"Mineta's really the worst, huh?" Mina spoke up before waving to toe young boy. "Thanks, Kota!"

Hearing his name being called out, Kota turned around, only to flush completely red from the sight before his eyes. "What the-!" was all that he managed to blurt out before falling backwards, head first, straight into the male hot springs.

"Oh no!" Momo cried, standing up. "He's going to be seriously hurt!" Hurrying as fast as she could, she grabbed her towel and dashed towards the changing rooms, with Jirou following suit, ignoring the calls of the other girls that they heard behind them.

Exiting the changing rooms, they were met with the sight of Midoriya holding an unconscious Kota, in as much of a rush as they themselves were. Turning to face the girls next to him, Izuku immediately blushed, embarrassment clearly getting the better of him as he could see two beautiful young women standing in front of him, barely wearing anything more than he was.

"Y-Y-Yaoyorozu! J-J-Jirou!" He stuttered, unable to make a coherent sentence. "I was-! Y-y-you-! U-u-um-!" He struggled, his eyes darting all over the place, blush brighter than what Jirou's had been prior to Mineta's interference. Unable to continue, he turned and ran, assumedly towards someone who would be able to help Kota.

"Midoriya, wait!" Momo called out, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Jirou couldn't help but notice how strong Midoriya's back looked as he started to tap into his quirk to get Kota some medical assistance as soon as possible. Wondering what brought such thoughts about, Jirou decided to ignore them, chalking it up to her still being a little light headed from the time she'd spent in the hot spring.

"Yaomomo, let's just go back and enjoy the hot spring." The punk girl suggested, trying to ignore how good her crush looked in a towel. "I'm sure Kota is in good hands."

Momo sighed lightly and nodded, turning back towards the source of heat and comfort.

As they entered, a certain frog-like hero in training watched them closely, noticing how their movements seemed a little stiff compared to how they were before the incident. Wondering what could have caused such a change, she ultimately decided not to press the issue, and continued enjoying the warm blanket of comfort that was the hot springs.

* * *

Yawning quietly to herself, Jirou was suddenly reminded how little she cared for waking up early. _'Half past five in the morning is way too early to start training…'_ She thought to herself. Stretching, she looked to Yaoyorozu – she looked like the early rise had barely affected her in the slightest, most likely because she was used to waking up early. _'She is one of the most diligent members of the class.' _The earphone jack user thought to herself.

Suddenly remembering last night's events, Jirou caught some thoughts of the fluffy haired hero in training flowing through her mind, and found her eyes wandering over towards the boy in question. Similar to Yaomomo, he also seemed fairly unfazed by how early it was in the morning. In awe by how able her classmates were to deal with such a time in the morning, Jirou lightly slapped herself on the cheek to get her blood flowing in a vague attempt to keep herself from dozing off.

Following a brief demonstration from Bakugou showing how little their quirks had actually improved despite their bodies and minds growing substantially, Aizawa continued on to declare "Starting today, you'll improve on your quirks!" Donning a sly grin, he continued, "This'll be so harsh that you'll wish you were dead, so do your best to stay alive!"

**Thank you for reading! I've been wanting to write this for a while as this OT3 is super cute! Hopefully I'm able to do it justice in future chapters.**

**Once again, a HUGE shout out to Eternal Love Song! She's genuinely fantastic at what she does, not to mention that she's the one who got me into this ship. Thank you so much for your help!**

**Don't forget to leave a review! Remember, constructive criticism is never a bad thing!**

**Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again! I'm so happy to be working on this, I **_**really**_** like this ship! I'm also super happy with how well this fic has been received, thank you all so much!**

**Without further ado, let's begin!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia.**

* * *

When Aizawa had said that this would be training from hell, Kyoka was convinced he was half joking.

Now, she was certain he was understating how excruciating this training was.

When she'd been instructed to "tunnel through the mountain using only her earphone jacks," she would've thought that they were joking if that order had come from anyone other than Aizawa.

It hadn't been so bad at first, but doing the same thing for several hours already was starting to seriously test her mental fortitude, and that was ignoring the feeling of her quirk burning up from being used so intensively.

Still, there was definitely _some_ progress being made on her arbitrary goal. It didn't look like much, but hey, she was taking everything she could get at this point.

Stealing a glance at Momo every now and then reminded her that maybe she didn't have it so bad. The Creation Hero in training was being forced to continuously use her quirk over and over, producing a large variety of objects as she consumed various chocolates and other foodstuffs so that she wouldn't conk out from overuse of her quirk. Brutal that he may be, Aizawa at least knew how to ensure that his students wouldn't be able to take a break from exhaustion.

A twisted part of Kyoka couldn't help but find Momo's face as she was going about her task somewhat cute – sure, her eyes looked like they were in constant focus and pain, but the way that her cheeks puffed out as she ate as quickly as she could… she could feel her heart twinge just looking at it.

"Five-percent Detroit Smash!" A voice yelled out loudly, and with a move declaration like that, Kyoka instantly knew who it belonged to. Ensuring that she was continuing with her workout, she looked towards the source of the cry, instantly finding herself smirking at the sight before her – Midoriya, desperately attempting to land a hit on Tiger, the muscle of Team Pussycats.

"Okay, not quite sharp enough yet!" The muscled man yelled out as he nimbly dodged each blow with his quirk. Straightening up, he twisted on his left heel, winding up his right arm. "It's proof you're not ripping those muscles apart enough!" He declared, thrashing the green haired hero in training across the face as he did so.

Landing face first in the dirt was almost pitiable for the young boy, Kyoka thought to herself, turning back to her own training with renewed vigour. Sure, she could barely feel her quirk from how numb they felt, but at least she wasn't being smacked across the face in the name of "training."

Hearing the young boy roar in determination caused the punk girl to smirk to herself. Of course, the boy who could barely control his quirk prior to his recent internship was the one who was now striding among the best of the class. Sure, he may be a massive nerd, but he's easily the most driven person in her class. Sure, there had been what had happened last night, but she hoped that the three of them would be able to put it behind them.

"Heh, well, he's only the most driven for now…" She muttered to herself, upping the ante of intensity as she continued to demolish the earth in front of her.

* * *

At first, the training had been hellish. By the end of the third day, Momo was certain that her quirk was going to expire from how hard it had been worked.

However, she didn't allow herself to feel too complacent – not only was this much work required to pursue her dream, but it also hardly compared to how bad the remedial students had it. Collapsing into bed at a reasonable hour to ensure a solid amount of sleep was tough enough as is, she could barely imagine how mentally and physically drained her classmates who were forced to stay up until 2am catching up on their studies were faring.

Still, despite the extra work of having to prepare dinner, she always welcomed mealtimes. Sure, she'd been forced to eat all day as part of her training, but she effectively hadn't even had a chance to process any of the food she'd consumed – it had, for all intents and purposes, been immediately converted into the items she was forced to mass produce.

So yes, engaging in a meal which she could actually enjoy was greatly appreciated by the ponytailed girl.

That and the promise of a test of courage later that evening, it would be nice to properly unwind, even if she didn't do too well with being scared.

As she continued to prepare the vegetables with Bakugou, who was displaying a surprising amount of prowess with such a sharp implement, she found her eyes wandering over towards the figures of Midoriya and Todoroki, who seemed to be having some kind of a conversation.

How fitting, she thought to herself, that one of the best students in the class seemed to have formed something akin to a friendship with the up-and-coming member of the class. She could still remember how incredible they had both been in the sports festival, how nigh insane the clashing of their wills had been towards the end of the fight as the boy who could barely even control his quirk goaded the dual-quirked boy into using his left side.

Of course, Izuku had lost, but the sheer impact, the sheer feeling of devotion that Midoriya was showing to helping Todoroki, a classmate who, prior to the sports festival, hadn't even spoken to the green haired hero in training, had really left an impression on the young girl.

She respected him greatly, that much was certain.

Being brought out of her stupor by the sound of vegetables being dropped onto her chopping board, Momo quickly turned towards the source.

"You alright?" Kyoka asked, concern ringing through her voice. "You'd completely zoned out for a second there."

Recomposing herself, Momo took a quick breath. "Not to worry, I was merely lost in thought."

Glancing over her shoulder, Kyoka replied "About what?" Seeing the individuals who had caught her attention, Kyoka found her face heating up gently as she saw the young man standing next to Todoroki.

As is feeling their gaze, Midoriya turned around, his eyes meeting with the two girls briefly before he instantly blushed and turned away, prompting the heterochromic boy to raise his concerns about his friend.

"Heh, evidently he hasn't forgot about what happened a few nights ago." Kyoka smirked, glancing towards the object of her affections, only to be met with a similarly blushing Momo.

"S-sorry!" Momo cried, rushing off. "C-can you finish c-cutting the vegetables f-for me? I t-think I n-need a drink!"

Before Kyoka could even respond, Momo had rushed off, assumedly towards the kitchen inside their lodging. Trying to ignore the throbbing feeling in her heart, she mused that, clearly, Momo hadn't forgotten that night either.

Not that she could blame her. Whilst she was completely head over heels for the tall girl, Kyoka couldn't help but admit that she did like the way that Midoriya was built.

But that was irrelevant, she knew she loved Momo, some impressively built boy wasn't going to change that.

* * *

The stew was far from what one would expect in a restaurant, but for something that the two classes had thrown together in their exhausted state, it was a godsend.

Momo, now having returned from wherever she'd ran off to, was practically demolishing her plate of food while managing to somehow stay true to her elegant roots. How she managed that elegant balance was beyond the understanding of the punk girl.

One thing that was clearly causing some minor issues at dinner, however, was how there was a constant sense of tension across the tables. Some would even say it was thick enough that you might mistake it for the stew that they'd produced.

Whilst most of the members of both 1-A and 1-B mistook it for exhaustion from being worked far beyond their limited for the past three days, some of the more observant members of the classes managed to notice the source of the tension.

"Jirou." Asui croaked up from across the table, immediately catching the attention of the girl in question. "I have a question."

Shrugging her shoulders, she replied nonchalantly. "Shoot."

"What happened when you and Yaoyorozu left the hot springs a few nights ago? You both looked kind of stiff."

Immediately, the creation quirk user stiffened up, an action that was not unnoticed by a pair of yellow eyes. Kyoka, in response to the question, merely blinked before answering. "Nothing major, we ran into Midoriya carrying Kota before he ran off to get some help for the kid."

"Oh really?" Mina piped up from beside the Hearing Hero. "Does that explain why you two and Midoriya keep glancing at each other?" She yawned as she finished.

Momo blushed instantly upon hearing this proclamation, choosing to hide her face in her bowl of rice instead of engaging with the accusation.

"Mina, let's not pressure them." Asui said, much to the relief of the two girls being interrogated. "If they say it's nothing then it's nothing."

Despite moaning, Mina did stop asking them, however they both knew it was a matter of time until she asked again.

* * *

Following dinner, the time for the test of courage had arrived.

Kyoka was silently dreading this, she _really_ wasn't good with horror tropes of any kind, and desperately hoped that she could find some excuse to _not_ take part.

As fate would have it, however, she would have to suffer through the experience. Despite that, she was fortunately paired up with her best friend, Momo.

So, y'know, best of a bad situation.

Despite her internally being over the moon for being paired with her crush, she couldn't help but notice how the girl in question seemed to be a little… absent. As though something was clearly on her mind, but it wasn't obvious what.

Nerves getting the better of the rocker girl, she assumed that Momo was similarly scared of being spooked by their rival class.

'_Here goes nothing.'_ She thought to herself, offering the Creation Hero in training her hand as support.

"What's this?" Momo asked, being snapped out of her thoughts by Kyoka's motion.

"Here, for support." She answered, trying desperate to hide her blush as her quirk attempted to cover her face to little avail.

"Ah." She replied, feeling her face heat up. "I a-appreciate the o-offer, but no t-thank you."

Glancing up from behind her bangs, Kyoka could've sworn that she saw Momo blushing harder than she'd seen anytime prior.

Could it be…?

* * *

How?

How could villains have found this place? Even among the staff at UA, it was largely kept secret about the location of the training camp.

And yet, here Momo was, desperately fitting a freshly produced gas mask onto her unconscious precious friend, poisonous gas swirling around them as though it were sentient.

'_It doesn't seem like the villain causing this gas is nearby for now…'_ She thought to herself, being successful in her task. _'It would be best to get to the nearest hero… or back to the main base to meet back up with Mr Aizawa.'_

Lifting Kyoka as best as she could, holding her in front of her since there was no way that she'd be able to carry her on her back with the punk girl being unconsc

ious, she began moving towards where she assumed the mid-point of the test of courage was, keeping a mental note of her surroundings should she accidentally find herself all turned around.

Desperately hoping she could find a member of either her own class or a member of 1-B to assist her in getting back to whatever could be classified as 'safety' in the current situation, she marched onwards, making sure not to jostle the knocked out girl too much – the last thing the poor girl needed was a neck injury on top of being intoxicated.

A sound akin to thunder cracked loudly over the treeline, echoing for miles beyond the grounds of the training camp. Instantly, Momo turned her head towards the source, which seemed to be a large hill that stood between the main base of the camp and her current location.

"A villain?" She muttered to herself, trying to rationalise the situation. "Who could have made such a destructive noise?"

"Yaoyorozu!" A voice yelled out from the darkness.

Looking for whoever had just called for her, Momo was met with the sight of three class B members, who she recognised as Awase, Ibara and Tetsutetsu, with Tetsutetsu carrying Ibara as fast as he could. Immediately realising the situation, she produced three gas masks and yelled for them to put them on as quickly as they could.

Once secure, Awase breathed desperately, thanking Momo as best as he could. "W-what do you think c-could've cause such a massive cracking noise?" He managed between coughs.

"No idea." Tetsutetsu commented before realising that Momo was holding someone as well. "Oh god, is she okay?"

"She should be fine, just breathed a little bit of the gas." The girl replied, "But she'll need medical help as soon as possible."

"Agreed." Tetsutetsu nodded before continuing. "I'm going to see if I can find any of my classmates, there's no way in hell that I'm going to leave them out here!"

Smiling at his determination, she stopped him before he ran off. "You'll need these." Producing several gas masks, Awase grabbed them and handed them to Tetsutetsu so he could carry both them and Ibara safely.

"Yaoyorozu, I'll lead you to the mid-point." Awase declared as his classmate ran off. "Ragdoll should be there; she'll be able to administer first aid."

Nodding, Momo motioned for him to head off, with her following his lead.

Unbeknownst to both of them, a low mechanical grumble could be heard behind them, tailing them, waiting for its chance to strike.

* * *

**And it's done! I hope you're all enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it, I **_**really**_** like this ship, it's so underrated!**

**This is gonna be a slow burn, methinks – don't expect overly romantic stuff for a while!**

**Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

No kill quite like overkill, they say. And from what Momo could make out in the haze of her consciousness slipping as Awase dragged her as best he could, this was definitely overkill.

How it had managed to sneak up behind them was beyond her – it was a Noumu, for crying out loud. They weren't exactly known for being subtle. Yet it seemed as though every time she would open her eyes, they would be met with the horrid sight of the creature, it's mouth drooling as it continuously snarled "'ittle kitty."

She was fortunate that Awase had chosen to stay with her and the unconscious Jirou, as if he hadn't… well, she dreaded to think of that outcome.

"Yaoyorozu!" He yelled, panic stricken, "You still alive?! Hey! You gotta run!" He paused for breath, ensuring that his quirk, which had fused both her own body and her unconscious classmate to his, hadn't failed out just yet before continuing. "They're after us!"

"I'm sorry… Awase…" Momo struggled, blood seeping down from her wound on her forehead, irritating the corner of her eyes. "I-I'm okay!"

From what she could see, Kyoka wasn't in the most helpful position, having had her right arm fused around Awase's neck, so his lack of breath was understandable. Unfortunately, they didn't have the luxury of rearranging their set up, as the Noumu attempted to slash at them over and over, the chainsaws on the end of its many appendages coming within mere centimetres of the trio.

"Crap!" The welding boy yelled, noticing the scream of the engines getting ever closer. "What's going on?! What the hell is all this?!"

Forcing her eyes open, Momo was convinced this was the last thing she'd see, as the roar of the machinery came ever closer.

Until it stopped.

The engines had stopped, its appendages retracted back into the creature as it turned, facing away from them. It's jaw scraping against the metal bar held within it's teeth, the Noumu once again snarled "'ittle kitty" as it wandered into the woods, seemingly holding no interest whatsoever in the trio it had just been chasing with everything it had.

"Uh…" The headband wearing boy muttered, watching as it left them as though nothing had happened.

'_Did they accomplish their mission…?'_ Momo thought to herself before having the sudden realisation. _'That means Bakugou is…!'_

She shook her head and clenched her fist, catching the attention of the boy currently carrying her. _Now's not the time! Don't get caught up in relief!'_ Straining herself to the best of her ability, she began to utilise her quirk, desperately focusing to create the one thing that she knew would best help given the current situation.

"Awase!" She struggled, having finalised her creation. "Use your quirk on this! Put it on him!"

"What's this?" He replied, taking the object in his hands as he deactivated his own quirk, allowing Momo and Kyoka to fall gently to the ground. "A button?"

"Quickly!" Momo shouted, pushing herself up off the ground. "He's getting away!"

Nodding briefly, Awase turned, running up behind the monstrous being and quickly activating his quirk, instantly welding the device to it. If it had caused any pain, the Noumu didn't notice, as it continued to snarl as it mindlessly wandered away, deep into the woods.

"It's on him, okay?!" He cried, turning around to carry both the girls, with Momo being on the verge of losing consciousness. "Let's get out of here, this is too scary!"

"Good…" Momo managed before everything turned to black.

* * *

If it hadn't been for the burning sensation in her lungs, Kyoka would have probably still been completely unconscious. Stirring gently, she forced her eyes open slowly, taking in the sight around her, confusion setting into her mind.

A pristine white cover held her within the confines of what appeared to be a hospital bed, a gentle orange glow seeped into the room via the window to her right, enveloping the room in a comfortable radiance. Across from the earphone jack girl, a bed similar to her own was positioned, however it almost didn't look occupied – there were bulges indicating that someone was indeed there, but she couldn't see anyone. Glancing downward, she could also see that she'd had an IV drip inserted into her arm, with the contraption located on her left.

Slowly, she came to realise where she was located exactly – a hospital, or at the very least an infirmary. This revelation didn't exactly make her situation much clearer, however. They'd been at a training camp, right? Why was she suddenly here? Had she been injured and didn't remember?

Focusing to the best of her ability, which was admittedly hindered substantially by the constant feeling of agony from her chest, she tried to recall the events prior to this. She'd been training her quirk, then she'd been paired up with Momo for the Test of Courage, and then…

Oh.

_Oh._

She didn't have all the details, but she figured out what happened well enough – villains had attacked and she'd fallen unconscious from the poisonous gas secreted by one of them.

Panic immediately settled in upon this realisation. She didn't care if it physically hurt her to breathe, she _needed_ to find out whether Momo was okay. This was no time for her to by lying around when the girl in question could be suffering.

As if by some miracle, the door slid open, and there she was – concern etched on her face, wearing a pretty pink blouse and a skirt which really complemented her look with her ponytail standing gloriously, she rushed over to Kyoka, grabbing a hold of her hand as gently as she could. "Kyoka!"

"Mo-!" The punk girl rasped before breaking into a coughing fit, barely able to catch her breath as the creation hero in training held the girls' hand, trying to offer as much comfort as she could.

"I'm here, I'm here…" She repeated in an attempt to comfort the suffering girl, her heart really going out to the poor girl. It sounded like she was going through hell just trying to breathe.

"Wha…" Kyoka managed before another cough seized her.

"Don't speak, just relax…" Momo's voice was soothing to the girl, allowing her to relax into the comfort her hospital bed provided, their hands still entwined. "Everyone's okay, don't worry…"

Feeling her eyes fluttering to a close, the punk girl wanted to slap herself awake, but found herself lacking in the strength to do so.

"I'm sorry." Momo muttered so quietly it might not have been picked up by anyone else, but to Kyoka and her enhanced hearing, she heard it loud and clear. "It's my fault this happened to you…" The ponytailed girl continued to have her eyes downcast. "If I'd been able to do more, maybe they wouldn't have…" She trailed off, refusing to make eye contact.

Realising speaking probably wasn't the best idea, Kyoka realised the best thing she could do was to give her friend's hand a quick squeeze – enough to show she was supportive of her, but not so much to worry the girl that she was straining herself.

"But there's something I must do." Momo added, disentangling her hand from that of Kyoka's, much to the half-asleep girl's discontent. "I'm sorry, but I hope you can forgive me…" She muttered as she began moving towards the door, sparing a caring glance back at the bedridden girl.

"Where…" Was all that she could manage before the darkness of sleep overtook her.

With a pained expression, the ponytailed girl couldn't just leave her like that. She had to do _something_ to show how much this hurt her to do, just leave her like that.

Quietly, she turned back towards the bedridden girl, and hesitating slightly, she lowered her head and planted a gentle kiss on the punk girl's forehead.

Blushing profusely, she turned on her heels and quickly made her way out the door, unaware that a pair of invisible eyes had watched the entire exchange.

* * *

Heading down to the foyer to meet with Todoroki and Kirishima, she bumped into Midoriya on the stairs down. Blushing slightly from recent events involving both him and Kyoka, she expected him to be in a similar state, given his track record.

Instead, she was met with the sight of an incredibly determined individual – a sight she was used to seeing from the freckled boy at a distance, but rarely up close like this.

Not that she could blame him. When all was said and done, he'd beaten himself up _horribly_ during the entire encounter with the villains, both literally, where his arms had been shattered to the point where using them much more would result in him no longer being able to use them, and metaphorically.

After all, he'd been agonisingly close to saving Bakugo.

Of course, it wasn't his fault, Momo knew this, joining him as they headed towards the exit, but she couldn't find fault with how he had burdened it upon himself as to why his childhood friend had been kidnapped.

Opening the door first, Momo exited the building with Midoriya just behind her, greeted with the sight of both Todoroki and Kirishima, as they'd promised earlier.

"Whaddya say, Yaoyorozu?" Kirishima posed instantly. Both him and Todoroki had been the ones to suggest saving Bakugo, but she hadn't given them a solid answer. Now that she was here, however, she knew there was no turning back.

"I…" Momo started before getting cut off by another.

"Wait!" Iida called out, surprising all of them. Todoroki had guessed that, given his outburst when they'd suggested this plan to the others earlier, he would be the one to actively try and stop them from carrying out this endeavour. "Of all people, you guys should know better! Especially you two, who criticised me for _my_ rash actions and, like me, had to receive a special pardon in the end!" He paused for a breath, "Why are you about to commit the same blunder I did?! This is foolish!"

"What are you talking about?" Kirishima piped up, unaware of the circumstances that both Todoroki and Midoriya were aware of.

"We're still under protection and U.A.'s already facing hard times as it is." He continued, refusing to make eye contact with those he was scrutinising. "Who do you think will take responsibility for your actions?!"

"That's not how it is, Iida." Midoriya spoke up, stepping forward. "Nobody said we're gonna break any laws…"

He was cut off midsentence by Iida swinging his fist straight into the young man's jaw, causing the boy to fall backwards. Momo cried out, running straight to his side to make sure he didn't injure his head further. Supporting him under the arms, she looked towards Iida, shocked that the president of their class would take such an action.

"I have regrets too! And of course I'm worried!" He yelled, "I'm your class president! Naturally I worry about my classmates! And not just Bakugo!"

He raised his eyes to look towards the others, "Seeing you all hurt earlier reminded me of my injured brother!" Looking back down to Izuku, being propped up by Momo, he continued. "What happens when your little vigilante act takes you somewhere you can never come back from, like my brother?" Staggering forward towards the green haired boy, he planted his arms firmly on his shoulders. "Are you saying you don't give a damn! Are you saying you don't care about how I feel here?!"

"Iida…" Midoriya muttered, unable to put into words what he wanted.

"Iida!" Todoroki called out. "You don't seriously think we're planning to smash down the door, guns blazing?"

"We're getting him back without fighting!" Kirishima added, "It's gonna be a covert mission! That's how we heroes in training can fight on the right side of the law!"

"I trust you Todoroki, but worse comes to worst, I should be there as backup…" Momo continued, "Which is why I'm coming too."

"I'm not really sure I get it, but…" Midoriya coughed, with Momo feeling the vibration of him doing so through his ribs, "the thought that we can still reach him… I just can't sit around doing nothing." He lifted himself up out of her arms, looking Iida dead in the eye. "I need to go save him!"

* * *

Boarding a train to Kamino Ward, the group of five, with Iida and Momo acting as "watchmen", took their seats as Todoroki unpacked a small pack of provisions for them. They couldn't work on an empty stomach, after all.

In front of Momo, on the shared table, was the tracking device that she'd produced, currently with a small flashing dot. Hopefully, assuming the tracker hadn't fallen off, the Noumu that she and Awase had tagged would still be there.

And hopefully, the others would be able to realise how much of a fruitless endeavour this 'rescue mission' was likely to be.

'_A non-violent rescue…'_ Momo thought to herself, staring at the tracking device. _'It's not very realistic.'_ Glancing at the others, her mental track continued, _'They don't seem to realise that they're hardly used to acting calmly…'_

Shaking her head briefly in an attempt to convince the pessimistic thoughts plaguing her mind to leave her alone, she began to tuck into the food that Todoroki was offering her. _'Once we arrive and assess the situation, they'll realise how hard this will be… how unrealistic… At least, I hope they will!'_

"Uh…" Midoriya spoke up, "Did anyone tell the others the details of this mission?"

"Yeah, then they wasted time trying to stop us." Todoroki replied, not looking up from his food, completely unnoting of the train's sudden movement as it began to head towards their shared destination.

"Uraraka was really harsh about it, just to drive the point home." Kirishima added, pausing to take a quick drink. "Said something like 'Bakugo will consider it disgraceful to be rescued.'"

A pained expression crossed over Midoriya's face, as if he knew _exactly_ what Kirishima, and to a greater extent Uraraka, was referring to.

"Lemme say this much…" Todoroki began, picking up a croquet with his chopsticks. "What we're about to do is a selfish thing that won't be accepted by anyone, even Bakugo. If you wanna turn back, there's still time." He finished, popping the croquet in his mouth.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't completely sure about this!" Kirishima answered, taking a bite into a rice ball. "Plus he's not the kind of dude to let any villain boss him around!"

"I…" The green haired teen began, clearly feeling some conflict about the situation. Momo looked towards the boy on her right, seeing that he was clearly struggling. For what reason, she didn't know, but all of that came to a half when he looked up again, clenching his fists, as he declared "There's no turning back now!"

The rational part of her mind wasn't overly happy with the choice that he'd made, but another part of her mind, a part she couldn't quite put her finger on, rather liked his determination.

Trying desperately to ignore that part of her, which she couldn't help but notice was overtly happy that she'd decided to join Midoriya on this mission, she settled herself in for the rest of the trip.

* * *

"The tracker points to this location." Momo declared upon arrival, looking up at the eerie building. Fittingly, it hadn't been placed in the most populated part of town, and much like the majority of the buildings surrounding it, it looked rather suitably abandoned. It was obvious that it wasn't a fresh addition to the area – the weather had clearly taken its toll on the building, with cracks being a frequent sight around the outside of the perimeter, including upon the wall that encompassed the facility itself. Weeds could also be seen around the edges of the gate that lead to the main shutter door of the building, showing that it hadn't been used in a while.

This did beg the question, however – if this was the villain's hideout, how was it that there were not even any of the subtle signs of people coming and going? Simple things, such as minor scuffmarks around an entrance, scratches on the metal bars of the main gate, a lack of weeds sprouting around what appeared to be the standard entrance to the desolate structure, none of these were present.

So, was this the hideout, or was it only a decoy?

"So this is their hideout?" Kirishima, now wearing a disguise so that he wouldn't look like a schoolboy in an area clearly not designed for children their age, piped up. "I'd believe that!"

It had been at Momo's suggestion that the five of them dressed themselves in such a way that they wouldn't be easily recognisable – they had had all of their faces broadcast on the news at the sports festival, after all, and the last thing they needed was someone ruining their operation by calling them out in the open.

Momo's outfit, a rather sparkly pink dress with a pair of large sunglasses, acted as the perfect cover for her – she'd _never_ worn anything like this prior to this mission, so the chances of her being recognised were exceptionally slim.

Whilst she was confident she'd remain incognito, she couldn't help but notice how one of her accomplices in this endeavour, Midoriya, seemed to always be a tad red in the face whenever she caught a glance at him.

Whether this was because of nerve getting the better of him or because of her outfit, she had no idea. However, she couldn't help but think about events prior to the villain attack on the training camp… how much they'd seen of each other (though admittedly unintentionally) …

Shaking her head once again to push aside such degenerate thoughts, she continued with her explanation, "We can't be sure, but I've been checking, and the villains haven't moved from here all day." Glancing towards the others, she added, "Just because the villains are here, doesn't necessarily mean Bakugo is too. I need you all to realise that we're standing here now based on very limited information."

"None of us are suited for stealth missions, unlike Jirou or Hagakure." Iida followed up, taking his role as a monitor of the others very seriously, "So I'm stopping this at the first hint of danger _because_ you're my friends, and I won't hesitate to notify the authorities."

"Thank you, Iida." Midoriya replied, placing his hand on his chin and getting lost in thought. "Just give me a moment to think… about what we can actually do…"

Beginning to mutter like a madman as he oft tended to do when overthinking, the others could do nothing but admire his ability to completely shut himself off and only think of the situation at hand. Momo was fully convinced that, when Deku, the hero in training, went into this trance, he was far more intelligent than herself, being able to come up with a seemingly _massive_ number of options and theories within seconds.

"Oi!"

Snapping Midoriya out of his stupor, the group turned towards the source of the noise, hoping that a villain hadn't just caught them in the act of scoping out their hideout.

"You! Hostess!" A drunken man in a suit called out, waving his hand randomly. "What're you up to honey? Join us for a drink!"

"Knock it off, you idiot!" A similarly drunken man, evidently a co-worker or a friend, grabbed a hold the initial drunkard and started dragging him off, leaving the group on their own.

It hadn't gone unnoticed to Momo, however, that Midoriya had rushed in front of her almost instantly after the man first started shouting at them, and she felt her face heat up slightly as she took in the sight of him… protecting her.

Of course, Midoriya protecting someone wasn't unusual – what was unusual was how _quickly_ he'd managed to get into such a position… it wasn't what she'd expected, far from it.

As the drunken duo backed off, Midoriya snapped back into his stupor, muttering something about how many people were now wandering around the area – evidently, a nearby bar had just closed and people were making their ways home.

"Let's go around back." Todoroki suggested. "I know we're in the dark here, but this is all we've got to go on."

Following his discretion, Momo led the way down a particularly narrow alleyway, between the wall that surrounded the warehouse hideout and the adjacent building. This proved to be a particular problem for the gifted girl, as she was acutely aware that her… _assets_ were going to be an issue, as the narrow space meant that she would find herself brushing up against the walls very frequently.

"At least no one can spot us here…" Midoriya muttered, attempting to get the best view of the structure as he could. Momo turned to look at the boy, watching as his eyes scanned for any possible insight to what could be awaiting them. She found herself fascinated by his eyes for a moment, admiring his ability to completely focus on the task at hand. Such a supple shade of green, almost glowing in the gentle light of the streetlamps, she couldn't draw her eyes away from them.

Or rather, she didn't want to look away.

His eyes widened for a moment before he declared "There!", prompting Momo to snap out of her trance and look towards what he had spotted, attempting to ignore the feeling of heat rising in her cheeks.

"A window?" Todoroki responded, still looking towards the object in question. "Won't it be too dark to see anything?"

"I could produce some night vision equipment…" Momo suggested.

"No!" Kirishima interrupted, "I actually have something here…" He pulled out a night vision scope from his jacket, muttering something about how expensive it was online. "I could only afford one, but when I was thinking about what we could do, I thought this might come in handy…" He explained.

Shifting around to the best of their ability, Iida lifted Kirishima onto his shoulders as Todoroki did the same with Midoriya, allowing them to look straight into the building. Lifting the scope to his eyes, Kirishima mumbled to himself as he took analysed the building before him, slowly adjusting his gaze from right to left.

When his gaze reached the left, however, he reeled backwards, causing Iida to nearly lose his balance as he attempted to support the red-headed teen.

"What is it?" Todoroki questioned from below Midoriya, "What did you see?!"

Hunched over and using the wall as support, Kirishima glanced at Midoriya out of the corner of his eye, a blanch expression covering his face as he passed the scope.

"On the left…!" He spoke as though he was trying to keep his last meal down, his sharp teeth glinting in the streetlights. "Midoriya! Check the left side! In the back!"

Midoriya quickly grabbed the ocular device and did exactly as he was told. As his eyes adjusted to the equipment, he saw exactly what it was that caused Kirishima to react as he had.

"No way…" Midoriya muttered to himself. Momo noticed how his body tensed, his legs completely straight and his jaw clenched. "They're just sitting there like that?!"

"What is it?" Momo inquired, trying to keep her voice down in case they were discovered – a narrow alleyway would give them very limited options for both combat or escape.

Midoriya swallowed, letting his arms fall to his sides as he turned his head to look Momo in the eyes. She saw how his eyes seemed to have changed – the gentle shade of green was still present, but unlike before, now all she could see in his eyes was not the inquisitive and focused boy she'd known.

All she could see was fear.

"Those're all…" He began, swallowing back some bile. "Noumu!"

Before any of them could react to the horrifying news that they'd just received, a massive explosion completely shattered the front of the building, where the five of them had been standing just moments prior.

The sheer blast of wind that arose from the explosion caused all five of the vigilantes to fall on top of each other, much to their dismay – concrete wasn't a particularly soft thing to fall upon, after all.

Wincing slightly at the pain, Momo attempted to sit up, only to find herself effectively pinned down by Midoriya, causing a massive blush to erupt across her face.

"M-Midoriya!" She stuttered, trying to compose herself. "A-are you o-okay?"

Recognising the sound of his classmate, Midoriya propped his head up, seemingly unaware of his current location. "Y-yeah, what about you?"

"F-fine, b-but if y-you wouldn't m-mind…" She trailed off, struggling to maintain eye contact with the green-haired boy.

It took the hero in training a small second to realise his predicament before a shade of red, very similar to when he'd seen both Momo and Kyoka at the training camp, caused his face to glow vibrantly before he scrambled to get off the collapsed girl, blurting out apologies left and right.

"W-what happened, exactly?" Iida choked, rubbing his temple as he staggered to get up.

Making eye-contact with Midoriya, Momo nodded as she got up, heading towards him. The boy in question nodded in return, crouching down, getting ready to lift her on top of his shoulders so she could get a better look.

As Midoriya stoop up proper, Momo placed her hands on the wall for better balance, looking through the dust cloud that now stood between them and whatever had caused the explosion which rocked the neighbourhood. Out of the corner of her eye, she could also see that Kirishima and Iida had followed suit, with Kirishima looking over the wall.

"They've got Mt. Lady, Gang Orca… even the number four hero, Best Jeanist!" He exclaimed, his eyes squinting through the debris.

"Tiger is down there too!" Momo declared, happy to see a familiar face.

Chatter could be heard emerging from the dust cloud, the voice of Mt. Lady booming over the rumble. Squinting her eyes, Momo could occasionally capture glances of the assorted heroes, her rapid heartbeat slowing to a comfortable pace as she continued to watch.

"See?" She could hear Iida speak up from behind the four students pressed up against the wall, turning her head towards him. "The pro heroes were able to take the necessary action faster than we could!"

Momo nodded, signalling to Midoriya to let her hop down from his shoulders, noting how Kirishima had already jumped down from his perch atop Todoroki's shoulders. Midoriya knelt down, allowing for a comfortable step down onto the concrete pavement below.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

As she touched down from her elevated spot, Momo could feel her ankle buckle upon landing, causing her to immediately fall into Midoriya's kneeling form. Gritting her teeth, she quickly grabbed hold of her ankle in a vague attempt to stop the constant throbbing pain that was currently inhabiting the region.

"Yaoyorozu!" Kirishima called out, his hand landing upon her back as she knelt, trying to keep as much weight off her injury as possible.

"A-are you okay?" Midoriya blushed slightly, still nervous from the unintentional contact the two of them had shared. He glanced down at her ankle, quickly taking in all the information that he could about the situation. His eyes, the same eyes that Momo found herself unable to look away from, immediately narrowed, their eyes meeting each other. For a moment, there was an indescribable warmth in the depths of his dark orbs, so much so that for that short moment, it felt as though all her worries ceased to exist.

"I'll lend you my shoulder." Midoriya declared, slinging his arm under her shoulders, lifting her up as he stood upright. Taking a moment to ensure that his hand was not only in a suitable position, and not anywhere which could cause… awkwardness between the two of them, he locked eyes with her, nodding before looking back towards their classmates.

Giving a nod of approval, Iida continued. "We should leave now." He turned, looking towards where the group of students knew the heroes were working. "There's nothing left for us to do!"

Stiffening, Midoriya raised his hand, indicating that he wanted them to stop.

"Midoriya?" Todoroki asked aloofly, tilting his head.

An eerie silence hung in the air, the only sounds being the occasional murmur between some unseen individuals behind the wall. Midoriya lifted his finger to his lips, indicating he wanted them to be silent.

While Iida and the others looked confused, Momo's eyes narrowed, looking upon the horror that slowly etched its way onto her supportive classmate's face. His brow furrowed deeper and deeper as a gleam of sweat glistened upon his ruffled forehead.

"Ever since I was reduced to _this…"_ An ominous voice cut through the silence, the tension in the air becoming even thicker than it had been previously. "I haven't been able to _stock up_ as many as before…"

The sound of Best Jeanist activating his quirk could be heard in the ruins of the derelict building, followed by the sounds of clothes tightening around someone's body.

But clearly, it was to no avail.

There were no words to describe what happened. One moment, it seemed like the heroes had the situation under control, taking the noumus into custody and sweeping the area for any other villains.

The next, a wasteland appeared in the middle of the suburbs.

"Tomura's only just begun to think for himself…" The voice monologued, the sounds of his footsteps travelling across the destroyed earth echoing into the ears of the students, still hiding behind the crumbling wall that they'd been sandwiched between previously. "…to carve his own path forward…"

None of the heroes in training dared to even take a breath. The sheer presence that this man, this _thing_, gave off was enough to fill each and every one of them with the complete and utter fear of death, as though the angel of death itself was only a few metres away from each of them.

"So, if possible, I'd like to keep anyone from interfering with that." He continued, speaking methodically.

Looking out of the corner of her eye, Momo found herself completely shocked at the expression currently donning Midoriya's face. Much like her own, it was completely covered in nothing but guttural fear of the man currently lurking within throwing distance.

Yet, through that, Momo could see that even in the depths of that terror, there was something else…

Realisation.

_Recognition._

Something he _couldn't believe_ he was experiencing.

"Well… Shall we begin?" All for One spoke softly, as if addressing someone no one else could see.

* * *

**Well, this took a lot longer to write than I anticipated, but I promise the next update won't take anywhere near as long!**

**Until next time! Don't forget to review!**


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